It includes everything from the slaughter of elephants for their ivory, to the sale of great apes and exotic birds as pets, to caviar, decorative tiger pelts, and rhinoceros horns used for carvings and traditional medicines. Whatever the end product, the results for animals are tragic and are leading to widespread population declines of many endangered species.

Anyone who has seen the fallen carcass of a once-majestic elephant, tusks hacked off, can attest to the fact that poaching is cruel commerce. Worse, it is driven by some of our basest impulses: the desire for status symbols and trophies.

Sadly, the prices for animal items are skyrocketing: ivory costs up to $1,000 per pound. Rhino horn is more valuable than gold or platinum. Pangolins (a small nocturnal, scaled anteater) can fetch $1,000 each.

Huge profits, combined with soft penalties for lawbreakers and lax enforcement, have created a perfect situation for organized crime to move in.

As I write, elephant populations stand at three percent of the historic numbers, and rhinos have dwindled to around 26,000 in Africa—down from a half million at the turn of the twentieth century.

Big cats and other species face similar perils.

With such wide-reaching consequences for people and animals, we need our elected officials to rise to the challenge of combating the illegal wildlife trade now.

IFAW is working around the world on all links of the wildlife crime chain, and in the United States to encourage Congress and the Administration to lead the global community in its efforts to crack down on the criminals responsible for the devastation, making our world safer for people and the wildlife we love.

We hope that the report will be a valuable resource for decision makers at all levels of government—both in America and on other continents—as they weigh the options for combatting this horrific industry.